BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation
today called the arrest of WPLG reporter Jeffrey Weinsier a “First
Amendment outrage” that only subsequently
focused on a concealed handgun he was carrying “simply to deflect
public attention from the fact that Weinsier was arrested for doing
his job.”

Weinsier is licensed to carry a concealed handgun,
and reportedly does so because his investigative reports have resulted
in death threats. He was arrested Tuesday at Miami Central High School
while working on a story about school violence, and reportedly charged
with trespassing on school property with a weapon, resisting officers,
and possession of a firearm on school grounds. SAF has reviewed video
of the incident.

“Weinsier’s arrest has far less to do with
his Second Amendment rights than it does his First Amendment rights,
and we think school authorities and the officers involved know it,”
said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “Our staff has reviewed the video
and it does not appear Mr. Weinsier set foot on school property. He
appears to have remained on a public sidewalk, where he had a right
to be as a citizen, and a responsibility to be as a reporter doing his
job.

“He never exhibited the handgun,” he added,
“nor does it appear he entered any school facility. The only threat
he seems to have posed to anyone might have been his already-proven
ability to flesh out a story that perhaps school authorities would rather
not see on the evening news.

“We are also alarmed at the attempt by one officer
to block photographer Frank Debesa’s camera, so he could not document
the incident on video,” Gottlieb said. “This is the United
States, not a police state, and our Constitution protects press freedom
to the same degree that it protects an individual right to keep and
bear arms. The public has a right to know what goes on in their schools,
and Weinsier was trying to tell them.

“The Florida statute regarding guns on
school property appears to be on Weinsier’s side, but that will
ultimately be for a judge to determine, if this case goes that far,”
Gottlieb said. “We don’t think it should, and we are hopeful
that WPLG stands behind its reporter because if authorities can arrest
Weinsier today, who will they arrest tomorrow? A free society cannot
allow any abuses of constitutional rights. The Bill of Rights is an
all-or-nothing package, and we either defend every part of the document,
or the entire thing is worthless.”